Gate-operating means.



M. A. STICKLEY.

GATE OPERATING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.30.19I5.

' Patented June 1, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

THE NORFI/S PETERS 60.. PHlTC-LITHQ, WASHINGTON, D C.

M. A. ST!CK LEY.

GATE OPERATING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.30, I915. 1,141,849. Patented June 1, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

7H5 NORRIS PETERS 60., PHOTO-LITHO., WASHINGTON, O, C.

amino snares rarnnr orrrcin.

MARCUS ALLEN STICKLEY, OF STRASBURG, VIRGINIA.

GATE-OPERATING MEANS.

Application filed January 30, 1915.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MARCUS ALLEN STICK- LEY,a citizen of the United States, residing at Strasburg, in the county ofShenandoah and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Gate- Operating Means, of which the following is aspecification.

The present invention relates to improvements in gates, and moreparticularly to operating mechanisms for that type of farm gate designedto be opened from a distance.

The main object in view is to provide a mechanism of this characterwhich is a unitary structure of itself susceptible of being manufacturedat a minimum expense and supplied to the trade for attachment to theconventional gate constructions, thereby eliminating the necessity ofdispensing with the gate with which one may be already provided as isusual in equipping with devices of this type, where the operatingmechanism forms a part of the gate structure.

To the end of accomplishing the forego ing object, the inventionconsists of operating mechanism comprising in essential characteristicsa toggle oint arrangement adapted for disposition adjacent to a gate,one of the members of which is connected to said gate for opening andclosing the same, operating members being provided for actuating thetoggle either at a distance in any direction with respect to the gate,or from the gate itself, the operating members including a shiftinglever adapted to coact with lifting arms formed on the toggle, thecooperation being such that the gate will not have any tendency to stopat dead center whether or not given sufficient momentum to pass by deadcenter.

In addition, a shifting stop member is provided for cooperation with thelever aforesaid and so arranged with relation thereto as to insure thecoaction of the lever with the proper lifting arm according to whetherthe gate is in open or closed position whereby the maximum leverage foractuating the toggle members is secured.

Furthermore it is contemplated to employ, as hereinbefore premised,auxiliary means for actuating the operating mechanism, comprising anindependent lever carried by the toggle which is operativelyconnected tothe gate latch bar as will hereinafter be more fully set forth.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 1, 1-915.

Serial No. 5,292.

These and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained bythe novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts to behereinafter specifically described and claimed.

Reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of a gateprovided with the operating mechanism forming the embodiment of myinvention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the operatingmechanism, parts being broken away and shown in section. Fig. 3 is asimilar view showing the operating mechanism in the position assumedthereby at an intermediate point of the swinging of the gate. Fig. 4: isa view similar to Figs. 2 and '3 with the. operating mechanism in theposition assumed when the gate is fully opened. Fig. 5 is a top planview thereof. Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view more fullydisclosing the guide means for the operating members of the invention.

Referring to the drawings and specifically describing my device, thenumeral 1 refers to a gate of conventional form pivotally swung upon thegate post 2 and abutting with the opposite gate post 3, said gate beingprovided with a pivoted latch bar 1 adapted to engage the dog 5 on thepost 3 when the gate is in closed position.

It will be understood that the invention as now to be more specificallydescribed is designed to be applied to any usual type of gate of thischaracter and by reason of its special construction it is unnecessarythat the gate posts be removed and inset from their ordinary positionadjacent to a road into which the road closed by said gate leads. It isusually necessary that this be done when special gate actuating meansare employed, in order to obtain the proper disposition of theoperatingcords or cables for swinging the gate, but this objection hasbeenpurposefully overcome in the construction of my device whichconsists in essential characteristics of a toggle lever comprising thejointed sections 6 and 7 pivotally connected at 8. The extremity of thesection 7 is pivotally and loosely connected to the gate 1 asindicatedat 9, while the corresponding end of the lever section 6 is pivoted to asuitable anchoring post 10 located adjacent to the gate and at one sidethereof.

It'will be observed that the section 6 is preferably formed of doublestrap construction clearly shown in Fig. 5, the lower pivoted end ofwhich is spread open to engage at opposite sides of the post 10.Adjacent to the opposite end of the section 6 said section is formedwith laterally extending lifting arms 11 the extremities. of which armsare bent laterally again as indicated at 11, for a purpose to be moreclearly understood as this description proceeds.

The section 7 of the toggle is formed with a rearward extension 7 offsetfrom the main portion of the section so as to normally lie upon thecoacting lever section 6 when the toggle is in extended position, aswhen the gate is closed. This extension 7' limits the pivotal movementof the toggle sections as will be clearly understood by reference to thedrawing. Furthermore it will be noted that the section 7 is disposedbetween the spaced upper extremity of the coacting section 6. Pivotallysecured on the laterally extending stud 12 carried by the section 6,directly adjacent to the lateral arms 11, is the lever 13 which formsone of the operating members provided for actuating the toggle sections6 and 7 to thereby open and close the gate 1. This lever is freelymovable on its pivot in a vertical plane and is of a suflicient lengthto provide the necessary leverage for easily operating the device. Oneof the advantages of my special construction is the ability to make thislever of suflicient length to accomplish the desired result with minimumexertion, the said lever is adapted to coact with the lateral liftingarms 11 in breaking the toggle to open and close the gate. The arm withwhich it coacts is controlled by means of a shifting stop member letwhich is pivotally secured as indicated by the character 15 at the upperend of the section 6. The stop member 14 is of double-armed formation atits opposite extremity, as denoted by 16, the spaced corresponding armsbeing adapted to cooperate with the pivoted end of the lever 13. Thecoaction between the stop member 14 and the lever 13 depends upon theposition of the toggle sections. In Fig. 2 is disclosed the position ofthe device when the gate is closed, the stop member in this positionbeing in its gravitative or lower position with its upper arm directlyadjacent to the pivoted end of the lever 13 so as to engage it at oneside when an upward pull is exerted against the said lever 13. Thisinsures the cooperation of said lever with the lateral projection 11 ofthe lowermost lifting arm carried by the section 6. Obviously if thestop member 14: were not employed it would be possible for the lever 13to swing in the direction away from the lower arm 11 and actuation ofthe toggle would be defeated. For this reason it is desired that thestantially spent.

movement be in the direction of the arrow in said figure.

As shown in Fig. 3V-the toggle members when they reach a point in whichthe gate is at its intermediate swinging position where the extremity ofthe lever 13 and the lower pivot of the section 6 are in a true verticalplane, equivalent to dead center, the greater portion of the elements ofthe device are disposed at one side of this vertical line and naturallythe tendency is to drop or gravitate and continue to pull the gate openeven though the momentum when the gatereaches the intermediate position,is sub- The mechanism on the continuance of opening movement falls intothe position shown in Fig. 4: wherein the lever 13 has fallen to itslowermost position and the stop member 14 has likewise gravitated topermit its other armed extremity to lie adjacent to the opposite side ofthe lever from that of its normal position shown in Fig. 2.

It may be noted at this point that the stop member 14 is formed withlaterally extending stop fingers 14 at each side of its arms 16 whichlimit the shifting or swinging movement of said stop member by contactwith the section 6 adjacent to which it lies.

In closing the gate it will be apparent that the stop member 14: byreason of its cooperative position with respect to the lever 13, insuresthat said lever will swing on its pivot in the direction of the arrowshown in Fig. 1 so as to lift against the proper lateral arm 11 whichwill be the opposite arm to that acted upon in the opening operation ofthe gate. The special advantage of this arrangement lies in the factthatby this lever movement the same advantage of leverage is present inthe opening and closing actuations of the toggle which is not true withrespect to prior arrangements involving toggle members for operatinggates of this type.

The operating members for actuating the lever 13 consist preferably of aguide member or rod 17 pivotally connected to the lower extremity of thelever 13 at one end and passing through a guide ring 18 carried near thetop of a supporting post 19 located directly adjacentto the anchor post10 and the gate post 2.. The ring 18 not only guides the rod 17 but isalso provided with one or more pulleys 20 through'which pass operatingcords or cables 21,.the latter being connected at one end to the rod 17,as inclicated at 17'.

Any number of operating cords 21 may be employed and the arrangementdescribed enables these cords to be extended in any direction from thegate so that it is possible to have a suflicient number to supply notonly the road closed by the gate but the road into which the gate roadleads. The free extremity of the cords 21 may be suitably Weighted orprovided with grip members for pulling, as shown in Fig. 1 of thedrawings.

In order that the pedestrian may open the gate without employing theoperating cords 21, I provide preferably auxiliary operating means foractuating the toggle sections as now to be described. The forwardextremity of the section 6 at one side is bent back upon itself as shownat 6 in Fig. 1 and between the rebent end is pivotally mounted a liftinglever 22 extending toward the gate. To the free end of said liftinglever is secured an operating cord 23 passing around a pulley 24: on thegate at an intermediate point and around a second pulley 25 near theopening end of the gate. The operating cord may, if desired, beconnected to the latch bar 4 so that when the gate is in closed positionsaid latch will be moved into locking engagement with the inverted dog5, being drawn up into such engagement by the descent of the lever 22 inthe closing of said gate. When the gate is opened the lever 22 assumesthe position shown in Fig. 4, the initial opening action allowing thelatch bar t to drop out of engagement with the dog as will be obvious.The operating cord 23 may be removed from the latch bar i and attachedto the pin 26 if so desired. as when it is unnecessary to provideagainst possible pressure against the gate from the side opposite tothat on which the operating mechanism is arranged. One of the purposesfor employing the guide rod 17, aside from its guiding function, is toinsure the proper shifting of the lever 13 when the pressure on theoperating ropes 21 is released, it being apparent that the weight ofsaid rod will cause the lever 13 to always drop about its pivot intoproper position for coacting with the lifting arms of the section 6 inactuating the toggle for opening or closing the ate.

g One of the advantages incidental to the use of the bar 17 is that itenables the operating cords to be arranged in a position where theywould be unlikely to become entangled by stock in moving about theapparatus resulting perhaps in the pulling of the gate open or breakingof the operative connections. I have also particularly pivoted the lever22 with a view to maintaining this lever when the gate is open in aposition where said lever will not project rearwardly and be subjectedto bending by stock running against the same and possibly injuringthemselves.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. Gate operating mechanism of the class described comprising a leverconnected at one end to the gate and at its other end fixed adjacent tosaid gate, said lever consisting of jointed sections, one of saidsections having a lateral arm, operating means for actuating the leversections to thereby operate the gate comprising a shifting lever adaptedto cooperate with the arm aforesaid, and means adapted to coact with theshifting lever to insure cooperation of the latter with the arm.

2. Gate operating mechanism of the class described comprising a leverconnected at one end to the gate and at its other end fixed adjacent tothe gate, said lever consisting of jointed sections, one of saidsections having opposing rigid lifting extensions, operating means foractuating the lever sections to thereby operate the gate comprising afreely pivoted lever adapted to abut with said extensions, and meanscoacting with the pivoted lever to insure cooperation of the same whenactuated with one of the extensions in one position of the gate, andwith the opposite extension in another position of said gate.

3. Gate operating mechanism of the class described comprising a leverconnected at one end to the gate and at its other end fixed adjacent tothe gate, said lever consisting of jointed sections, one of saidsections having opposing rigid lifting extensions, operating means foractuating the lever sections to thereby operate the gate comprising afreely pivoted lever adapted to abut with said extensions, and a stopmember arranged adjacent to the shifting lever and adapted to engage thesame when actuated at one side to cause movement in one direction in oneposition of the gate and at the other side to cause movement in theopposite direction in another position of the gate.

4. Gate operating mechanism of the class described comprising jointedsections forming a toggle, one of the toggle members being connected tothe gate and another fixedly secured adjacent thereto, lateral armsformed on one of the toggle members, a lever pivoted adjacent to saidarms for coaction therewith when actuated to lift against said arms, anoperating member connected to one end of the lever, and a double-armedshiftable stop member arranged adjacent to the pivoted lever andengageable with its other end to cause cooperation of the lever whenactuated with the proper arm according to the position of the gate.

5. Gate operating mechanism of the class described comprising jointedsections forming a toggle, one of the toggle members being connected tothe gate and another fixedly secured adjacent thereto, lateral armsformed on one of the toggle members, a lever pivoted adjacent to saidarms for coaction therewith when actuated to lift against said arms, andoperating means for actuating said lever including a guide memberconnected thereto at one end, said guide Awm . (fop ies of this patentinay be obtained for .member normally maintaining the lever in coactingposition with respect to the arms aforesaid.

6. Gate operating mechanism of the class described comprising ointedsections formposition with respect to the arms aforesaid, r

and a flexible operating cable connected to the guide rod.

7. Gate operating mechanism of the class described comprising jointedsections forming a toggle, one of the toggle members being connected tothe gate and another fixedly secured adjacent thereto, lateral armsformed on one of the togglemembers, a lever pivoted adjacent to saidarms for coaction therewith when actuated to lift against said arms,operating means for actuating said lever including'a guide rod connectedthereto at one end, said guide rod normally maintaining the lever incoacting position with respect to the arms aforesaid and a flexibleoperating cable connected to the guiderod,-and a two-armed stop mem-'ber pivoted adjacent to the pivoted lever for holding the same inposition to cooperate with the'proper lateral arm when actuating thetoggle me1nbers.

8. Gate operating mechanism of the class described comprising jointedsections forming a toggle, one of the toggle members being connected tothe gate and the other fixed adjacent thereto, means for actuating thetoggle membersincluding a freely piv-;

oted lever carried thereby, an operating rod connected to the lever andnormally maintaining said lever below its pivot in open and closedpositions of the gate, and a cable for actuating the rod, guide meansfor said rod disposed adjacent to the gate, and

movable cable supporting means carried by and movable about said guidemeans for enabling actuation of said cable from any direction withrespect to the gate.

7 9. The combination with a gate, a latch bar therefor, of operatingmechanism for said gate comprising a lever consisting ofjointed'sections, main actuating means for "said sections for openingthe gate from a distance and EIUXlllfiIVttCtHELtlIl means for saidsections comprising a lifting lever extending longitudinally of andpivotally connectedto one of said sections, and a flexible operatingcable connected toathe lever at one end and having its other enddisposed adjacent to the opening'end of the gate for lifting the'leverto actuate the jointed lever sections, one of'said sections having arebent extremity to which the lifting lever is pivoted and against whichit abuts for lifting action. g 7

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MARCUS ALLEN 'srIoKLEY.

lVitnesses: v a

G.- L. H M, 1 LILLARE FUNK.

five cents each, by addressing the-Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. i I

